Pat-Med Gives Sachem East First Loss [Video]

Sachem East and Patchogue-Medford have faced their fair share of adversity the last few seasons, so the slugfest that ensued Thursday night was expected.

By the end of the bout, it was the Raiders who were still standing, but not by conventional fashion.

After overcoming a 24-8 deficit in the third quarter, Sachem East rallied back and was behind just 31-30 with 10 seconds left. Opting to attempt a two-point conversion, because kicker Anthony Vaccaro injured his knee earlier in the contest, Sachem came up short when Steven Casali - lining up in shotgun behind center - threw a pass, instead of attempting to barrel over the line.

“Casali has the ability to put it in and if not, he chucks it,” Sachem coach Mark Wojciechowski said of the conversion attempt. “He’s our best kid. I’ll do the same thing 100 times with him. Put it in his hands and let him make that decision and we’ll go with it.”

Sachem East (4-1) lost for the first time in 2011, snapping its momentous winning streak that has sparked a resurgence in the program. Patchogue-Medford (2-3) on the other hand, has won two straight games, matching their number of wins in each of the last two seasons.

Sachem opened the game with a safety and 1-yard touchdown run by Joe Ryan, but Pat-Med took over early in the second half. Joe Altrui ran back the opening kick off 85 yards and the Raiders converted a two-point attempt to take a 14-8 lead in the third quarter.

Conor Coughlin followed that with an interception, regaining possession for Pat-Med on Sachem’s 27-yard line. By the end of that series, Altrui kicked a 27-yard field goal to increase their lead.

Sachem manufactured a drive that took them to Pat-Med’s 1-yard line, but coughed up the ball. Again Pat-Med took advantage of a turnover when Chris Makulik rushed 96 yards for a touchdown and a 24-8 lead with 2:25 left in the third.

Then the Casali show began. He scored a 32-yard touchdown and 27-yard touchdown on consecutive series and both were answered with two-point conversion passes to Anthony Balsalmo.

Pat-Med ate up clock in the fourth quarter and drove most of the field, - aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on a third-and-long play - allowing Altrui to score a 1-yard touchdown with 3:17 left to take a 31-24 lead.

Casali, who rushed 27 times for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns, answered again with a valiant 48-yard touchdown run with 44 seconds left in the ball game.

“Mistakes, interceptions, fumbles, a turnover on the goal line, then we give up 96 yards,” said Wojciechowski, “you can’t do those things. We were always in the game. The kids hung tough. They didn’t give up.”

Pat-Med saw ample production from its offensive line in the game, specifically on the final two scoring drives.

“They did a great job keeping their composure and getting first downs little by little and took some of that time off the clock,” said Pat-Med coach James Chiarello, “because as soon as [Casali] touches the ball, he could score at any moment. Their big kid, our big kid. It was like a boxing match.”